Bollywood Retrospect: 5 songs by lesser known music director Vinod

Vinod was the stage name of Eric Roberts, a music director who was active in Hindi and Punjabi films in the 1940s and 1950s. Vinod grew up in Lahore and studied music under Pandit Amarnath. After India’s partition, he moved to Bombay along with many others in the Lahore film industry. Although Vinod passed away when he was only 37 years old and did not get the opportunity to work in big films, he left some memorable tunes to remember him by. Here are my pick of five songs by this lesser known music director.

‘Lara Lappa Lara Lappa Laai Rakhda’ (Ek Thi Larki, 1949)

Vinod’s first hit was so big that it remained the song he was best known for. A true Punjabi at heart, he brought the exuberance of Punjabi wedding tappe into this extremely catchy song. The sparkle in Lata Mangeshkar’s voice, the perky dholak theka and the enthusiastic clapping had people singing along this song for years to come.

‘Taare Wahi Hain Chand Wahi Hai’ (Anmol Rattan, 1950)

While Vinod was best known for a catchy Punjabi tune, he was perfectly capable of composing lilting melodies drawn from classical music. ‘Taare Wahi Hain…’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar was one such melody. A year after her breakout song, ‘Aayega Aanewala’ (Mahal, 1949), Lata Mangeshkar sounds sweet and self-assured in this song.

‘Ashkon Ka Gar Hai Maut’ (Titli, 1951)

Another gem in Vinod’s discography is a lovely ghazal sung by Asha Bhosle— ‘Ashkon Ka Gar Hai Maut’. Unlike her sister, Asha Bhosle had still not established herself in the industry in 1951 and in this song she sounds like she may have been emulating Geet Dutt.

‘Hamari Gali Aao Shyam’ (Mukhda, 1951)

In ‘Hamari Gali Aao Shyam’, Vinod composed a rather curiously arranged bhajan. The only thing in the song that suggests it’s a bhajan is its lyrics. The structure, tune and instruments were anything but bhajan-like. ‘Tarpat Man Hari Darshan Ko Aaj’ is often cited as an exemplar of secularism in Bollywood, a bhajan sung composed, written and sung by Muslims. ‘Hamari Gali…’ is another such example,  a bhajan composed by a Christian and sung and written by Muslims— Zeenat Begum and Aziz Kashimiri.

‘Pyar Nahin Chhupta Chhupane Se’ (Laadla, 1954)

The last pick in this list is a Talat Mahmood-Asha Bhosle duet. The rich accordion arrangement reminds one of the orchestration of a music director who were at the top of their game at the time, Shankar–Jaikishan. From behind the sophistication, however, Vinod’s simple Punjabi roots shines through.

Bonus: A song in which Vinod appears onscreen— ‘Dilli Se Aaya Bhai Pingu’ (Ek Thi Larki, 1949). Vinod is the gentleman conducting music on-screen!

Vinod’s Hindi film discography can be found here.